Silas could have sucked the entire planet into himself in a black hole of self-hatred, but nothing derailed his brooding like Laurie Alessi. If he was a praying man, his prayers would be in thanks about him. While he wasnât exactly keen on looking at, talking to, or being around Cassandra Acton outside of their professional settings, it could be done in the company of someone so kind.
Heâd been talking with Alexis when Laurie had him nearly spraying the table with liquor; games, he would. Perhaps it was his ability to channel how underdressed he was, or his inner mood of not giving a damn about anything aside from work, but Silas smiled back at the man. Fuck it. âOnly if I can drink on every turn and it doesnât show up in an article tomorrow.â
It was impossible to stress enough how little she wanted to be sat at this table.
Whilst Laurieâs presence was an absolute blessingâas was his clear intention of making sure the night would be an enjoyable one for allâit was not enough to counter the fact that he was there, too. Their avoidance of each other had been one-sided up until the point Elizabeth had let her know heâd spilled their affair. Now she couldnât even bring herself to look at him beyond a polite smile required to avoid arousing the suspicion of the others. If any more proof was needed that her brave face was one to be admired, this was it. Silas was lucky she hadnât made the TWI headlines by punching him.
âDrunk Truth or Dare. What could possibly go wrong?â There were several personal jabs on the tip of her tongue, but she did well to keep them at bay for the sake of the tableâs atmosphere. Just because she wanted him to suffer (maybe Alexis a little bit, too) didnât mean they all had to. Cassie sipped her orange juice quietly, looking down at her phone like every bit the anti-social piece of shit she felt. âCanât I be the umpire or something? Iâm not drinking, and I feel like you need a sober person to keep you under control.â
The event started off wonderfully because it started off onstage. If he couldâve spent the rest of the night onstage, reciting lines by the Bard that were perfectly in sync with the music and movement of the ballet dancers, he wouldâve. It was certainly less terrifying than the idea of sitting with a group of strangers all night and feeling too polite and scared to leave them. He knew some familiar people were out in the crowd, but he had no idea how these sort of events really went, and didnât know if he could just mill around as he pleased.
As Jack found his way to the table, with an already half-finished drink in his hand, he let out an audible sigh of relief upon seeing Laurieâs face. Someone he knew, that was always helpful. And that it was Laurie only made it all the better, as he always seemed to be capable of having a good time. At the very least he usually laughed at Jackâs jokes. Just as Jack was settling in, a suggestion for a drinking game was laid out on the table and he simply nodded agreement while pulling his chair in under him. It wasnât until he sat back that he looked at the rest of the faces at the table and suddenly felt incredibly self-conscious all over again.Â
Cassandra Acton, Silas AgresteâŠCassie he knew mostly as the MP Laurie was friendâs with. Silas he knew only through some fairly unfortunate headlines that crowded his social media one night a while back. He knew absolutely nothing about their politics, even their constituencies, but he hoped they werenât as straight-laced and uptight as most politicians seemed. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw Alexis and quickly turned his attention back to Laurie, nodding a little bit more encouragingly this time. âGetting drunk sounds fun.â
Alexis genuinely had second thoughts about coming to this event. After all, she had only known Damon Rutherford through work and an unfortunate one night stand that automatically placed her on Avaâs judgement list. But then with most of her focus on work as of late â the recent club fire in Westminster had her updating security, safety protocols and insurance policies â she needed a good break.
The table Alexis found herself placed wasâŠa mixed bag. For one, the physical manifestation of her bad luck as there. Cassie, who had usually been a sight for sore eyes in these kinds of things, didnât give Alexis much ease either, with things between them being off since the TWI blow-up and the events that occurred after.Â
Oddly enough, the saving grace of the table for her was Silas Agreste, who she had found herself having an interesting conversation about his departmentâs new sub-committee on disinformation. It was unfortunate perhaps their talk was cut short at the mention of truth or dare, the sight of Silas about to spill his drink on her, and the genuine fear her dress would be ruined.Â
For a moment, Alexis hesitated, concerned about one Jack Katz and the tendency for misfortune to typically follow when they were in the same vicinity. Yet, at the face of a majority participating party, she decided to set her concerns aside. âIâm game,â Alexis threw herself in the mix, âWhat are the rules, aside from everyone gets to drink?â
Laurie felt proper satisfied with himself when the table took to his idea, tired of being invited to these events where everyone was so formal and diplomatic when they all wanted the same thing--to get drunk. âIâd say donât single someone out, because itâs too easy. For example, never have I ever been on SNL would be a cheap shot,â Laurie explained as he patted Jackâs shoulder. âBut other than that thereâs no rules.âÂ
He looked to Silas then, so glad to see him there even though everything was shit for him these days. It made his heart hurt to bit to see him so beaten down. âSilas, I will personally see that you donât show up on TWI by being so embarrassing that theyâll have no choice but to pay attention to me instead,â He laughed. âAnd Cassie, love, if youâd to keep score or something you can do that,â He added. He wouldnât force her to play, understanding why she would rater not.Â
âAlright, Iâll start,â Laurie clapped his hands and thought back on his long list debauchery for something heâs actually never done before deciding on the obvious. âNever have I ever slept with a woman.â
